Did you know for a fact, that majority of the professionals who are micromanagers do not even realize that they are doing it?

Here is how you can spot a micromanager:

– Every single aspect of the work has to go with their approval.- In case you choose to do an activity without following the above protocol even for a task that really does not need such detailed monitoring, you are followed with an email about: “What not to do, what went wrong with the most recent task, what to avoid and of course, ensure to follow through with a much more stringent protocol of approvals”.- Whatever you seem to do, never seems to be enough. There is always some improvement with the minutest of things which you clearly know does not require feedback or such intricate follow through procedures. – You keep getting calls, emails, follow-up for status day in and day out irrespective of the day of the week, including weekends and public holidays. – Whatever you do, you cant afford to not keep that person in the loop of your emails or conference calls. – Their feedback is often backed by statements like, “we need to be sure we follow this, we can’t afford to not do this, its better to do this than make a mistake”, even for tasks which are not that stringent in nature and even at a middle or a lower managerial level does not need half the attention and time it is garnering right now.

The problem with working under micromanagers is that, your freedom to deliver your potential, your ability to use your ideas, focus, discipline, skills etc goes for a toss because it is either their way or the highway.

Here are some ways in which a micromanager damages his or her brand and credentials:

1. Due to complete lack of priorities, they often feel overwhelmed. You can constantly find them complaining that they are packed and have absolutely no time for their daily tasks and routine work. The reason being, they try to be hands-on with everything and much worse, with everyone.

2.Due to their continuous need for “follow my steps, do not deviate, follow these guides as it is, don’t deter from the given process”, they damage their reputation as a boss or a superior too because people working under them or reporting to them start losing interest in their work, as they feel it has no meaning. This happens because they are never allowed to take decisions and even if they do, it’s often undermined by such micromanagers.

3. They usually have an inner-circle of ‘yes-men’ as in, within their team, they usually have people who always agree to everything they say and do and they often feel such professionals are far more superior than those who seem to be doing things from time to time deviating from the “strict protocols” to be followed.Sometimes, certain type of tasks require micromanaging and cannot afford any deviations, but even in such cases, there are times when things need not be that stringent and rigid all the time. But here again, the problem with micromanagers is that, they will always defend saying that their tasks and given set of responsibilities are under the category of things that ‘cannot afford devotions’ and they are ready with numerous explanations to it too at all times.

4. Biggest threat from micromanagers to an organisation is that, without their presence, things do not seem to function at all, simply because those working under them or with them are so used to being micromanaged that they themselves start losing confidence in decision making.

5. Excessive micromanagement for even a small level of tasks says that they clearly have no trust and faith in the other individuals skills and they would rather do it themselves as they strongly know and believe that others will make mistakes! You will find them constantly making use of phrases like, “my years and decades in the industry, my knowledge and expert opinion etc’. And worse, they keep citing some errors done by the peers which again might not really be errors, but stringent set of rules to be followed at all times. Exceptional employees with great skills cannot and in the long run will not adhere to such ridiculous rules and eventually either fall on the bad side of the team or worse, results in the organization loosing exceptional employees. Did you know, majority of the times, the reasons cited globally by people on ‘why they are leaving’ is bad or poor boss! Great employees, most of the time, leave their bosses, not the organization as it’s not merely for perks, but poor professional growth or hostile and or rigidly controlled environment!

6. A micromanager constantly quotes the credibility of the brand’s reputation at stake even for things which do not have that level of importance or involvement from everyone in the team.

7. Some micromanagers stem from their bosses behaviour, in other words, their bosses are big time micromanagers themselves and they ensure that these people reporting to them become one too!

8. Their focus is usually fault finding and not fact finding which in turn results in even controlling how to get a particular result or a deliverable.

9. A good or a great manager, simply shares his or her vision and what they plan to achieve and leave the actual task to their team, subordinates and peers. Such managers encourage skills, innovation, mutual respect and professional development whereas a micromanager will not only share their goals and deliverables, but also a one hundred percent step by step format on how to do the same at every go.

Have you experienced micromanagement or seen others being micromanaged?

What do you think could have been done better? How do you feel in harms the company and or it’s employees and the micromanagers themselves?

Do share your views, thoughts on this with me too, would love to hear from you.

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Published by Ananth

3 time CMO Asia Winner: Global Award Winning Digital Marketing Social Media Professional and Digital Agency Techdivine's Founder & CEO.
Awarded:
1) Most Influential Digital Marketing Leaders 2016 by CMO Asia and World Marketing Congress at Taj Lands End, Mumbai in 2016.
2) First place Winner of Global Peter Drucker Challenge in Entrepreneur's category among 40 countries.
3) Interviewed by BBC Business - Money and Finance at GPDF14 in Vienna, Austria about my Digital agency's innovative marketing technology integrated solutions for corporate brands.
4) Awarded Best Digital Marketing Professional in India by CMO Council and World Marketing Congress at Taj Lands End, Mumbai in 2014.
5)Published three books, one of which was covered by the Times of India team in Mumbai.
International Speaker, Author, Corporate Trainer who loves to travel, sketch, blog and go on long runs. Conducted corporate training on digital marketing, social media ROI, management, retail and lifestyle management, entrepreneurship for 9,000+ participants across some of the top corporate and elite academic institutions.
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